Freezing tray



2 sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 4, 1941.

FREEZING TRAY y Filed Dec. 27, 1937 Feb. 4, 1941.' f

` R. H. CHILTON FREEZING jmmr Fiid nec. 217". 1957 INVENTQR *M- ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. '4, 194i UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE rnEEzrNo 'raar `ltalph H. Chilton, Dayton, Ohio, assigner to Gen.

eral Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application December 27,1937. serial No. 1s1,94o

15- Claims.

ice blocks may be readily removed 'without the necessity of thawing them loose. i

-Many devices have heretofore been devised for the same purpose, hence the various important novel features of this device are pointed out as follows:

' 1. Simplicity of design and economy of manufacture. The resilient rubber cross partitions. do 4 not havetto' -be'separately molded but may, if desired, be cut-'out fnom a large rubber sheet thus greatly reducing'their cost. 'I'he upper and lower metal plates forming the longitudinal division wall maybe easily assembled vto the cross partitions simply by stretching the size of they slots in the resilient rubber cross partitions until they are snapped intoproper place. The resilient cnoss partitions then resiliently retain the metal plates in their normal position but permit easy relative movement therebetween.

`2. Simplicity and strength of the electing mechanism. The hand lever has all necessary operating cams unitary therewith and thus avoids separate actuating links, bars, cams, etc. The shape of the cams on the "hand lever may be readily chosen to give any desired mechanical advantage either to force the container pan from its contents orto force a separation of the two metal plates forming the central division wall. Since the lseparating movement lnecessary to loosen-one of the central metal plates from its bond to the ice is very small, the mechanical advantage of the corresponding cams may be very large andstill provide a very simple strong and rugged cam structure. `The twisting distortion of the resilient upper metal'plate by means of the hand lever is of utmost simplicity and is progressive from end to end thereof thus great- 1y facilitating the loosening of the ice blocks from the grid.

3.' Ease of operation.- Due to successive loosening operations of the, various parts from their bond to the ice the force required to'removefthe ice blocks is relatively small. Also the grid structure is simplified and renderedinore eilicient by providing that the ice block compartments be only partially formed by the division walls whichy operation of the device since there are no edges (Cl. 132-1085) l. l

or shoulders on the grid parts to positively resist the relative movement of the ice blocks necessary to crack them in two.

lFurtherobjects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein a preferred embodiment of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

10 Fig. 1 is a plan view of anice tray made according to this invention.

Fig. 2-is a section taken on line l2---2 of Fig. .1. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3 of F1g.'2 of the grid removed from the pan.

l Fig. 4 is a section on line 4.-! of Fig. 2 of the grid removed from the pan.

rig.y sis a view mustraung the operation of the 'grid to loosen the ice cubes after the pan has been removed. Fig; 5 is taken along line I-4 of Fis. 2.

Fig. 6 is a plan view illustrating the successive loosening of the ice cubes from the grid by the lateral twisting of the upper metalplate by the hand lever.

Similarreferences relate to similar parts throughout the several views. f

@The containerpan I0 may beof any suitable A design or material, but is preferably a drawn sheet aluminum pan having outwardly inclined side and end walls and having such a degree of comprises a metal longitudinal division` wall I5 and a plurality of. ilexible rubber transverse walls I0 mounted thereupon. Wall I 5 comprises an upper resilient metal `plate Il and a lower metal plate I1 which are'mutuall'y relatively movable.

A hand lever Il is pivoted upon the upper plate II by pivot pin I9 adjacent one end thereof. Le'- ver Il preferably has a U-shaped section adjacent pin 19, thus providing two strong depending side flanges 20 which snugly contact the plate Il and provide an eflicient means for twisting plate III laterally asdescribed hereinafter.

'I'he lower edges of side flanges 20 form cams -2I which engage cam surfaces 22 on the lower plate LI1J during the electing operation and thus eiliciently provide a great force to separate the two plates I 0 and lI1 in ayertical direction. Preferably' the cam surfaces 22 are formedby separate metal plates "rigidly iixed to opposite sides of the metal plate I.-I by suitable riveting Cil or spot welding in order to form the very strong lateral surfaces 22 which obviously should have a greater lateral width than the upper plate I6. When the parts are in freezing position, as shown in Fig. 2, there is preferably a small clearance 24 between cams 2| and cam surfaces 22 in order to permit a slight rotation of lever I8 before these surfaces engage each other.

The forward edges of the two side flanges 20 form a cam 25 which is so shaped as to force the lip of pan III outwardly and downwardly and thereby loosen the ice bond between pan I and its frozen contents prior to high pressure being exerted between cams 2| and cam surfaces 22, upon rotation of hand lever I8 in the direction of arrow A in Fig. 2. If desired, the lateral width of cam 25 may be increased for providing a greater bearing area upon the pan lip II.

With the form of the invention shown inFig. 2, when the hand lever I8 is swung upwardly the cam 25 rst engages the pan lip i I and forces theA pan I0 loose from its frozen contents by a progressive peeling action of the pan from its ice contents. During this operation the upper plate I6 is held against relative movement with plate I1 due to being partially embedded and frozen solid in the ice. However when the cams 2 exertv pressure upon the surfaces 22, the upper plate I6 is normally tilted upwardly with a very great force to loosen the ice bond between the embedded portion of plate |6 and the frozen contents. It will be noted that the shape of cam 2| may be chosen independently of the shape of cam 25 so as to permit the best and most eilicient cam shape for each of these operations. Preferably cam 2| is so shaped as to provide only a very slight upward tilting of plate I6 in order to provide a very large mechanical advantage for this initial loosening of plate I6 from its ice bond. But after plate I6 is so loosened from its ice bond and hand lever is further rotated to a substantially vertical position, the cam 25 will also engage cam surfaces 22 and easily give a further upward tilting of plate I6 so as to lift plate I6 from its groove in the ice to the desired extent before giving plate I6 its lateraltwisting distortion (see Fig. It will 4be noted that the strong lateral flanges 28 on lever I8 will still snugly engage the opposite sides of plate I6 when lever I8 is in its substantial vertical position and thus provide a very strong and efilcient grip thereupon for distorting plate I6 laterally by moving lever I8 to and fro in a lateral direction as illustrated in Fig. 5. Plate I6l may be madev of resilient stainless steel or other springy metal capable of considerable torsional distortion without permanent set. The lower plate I1 may be made 0f any suitable "metal but preferably of anodized valuminum having a wax treated-surface in .order to more readily loosen from the ice.

The cross walls 30 and 3| are preferably vmade of flexible rubber but obviously may be of any suitable distortable material which will permit the above-described relative movements between upper plate I6 and lower plate I1. These exible rubber walls may be very cheaply made-by cutting same from a large flat sheet rather than by molding the individual walls. Walls 38 are each provided with a central slot 32 thru which the metal plates I6 and I1 may be readily forced for assemblying the various parts together. After such assembling the walls 30 snugly flt into the upper notches 33 in plate I6 and lower notches 34 in plate I1 and thus alllthese parts are yieldably retained in their normal freezing position 3| is shown as having no neck of rubber overlying plate I6 and hence no notch 33 in the upper edge of plate I6 at this point. This is for the purpose of avoiding any weakening of the torsional resistance of plate I6 -by a notch in the metal thereof so close to the pivot pin I9. Hence this first cross wall 3| is properly retained in place by a neck of rubber 36 which extends thru a corresponding notch in the upper edge of plate I1 (see Fig. 2). The two upstanding portions 31 of cross wall 3| preferably contact plate I6 but are not attached to plate I6 ,and hence do not oppose upward tilting of plate I6 at this point.

Obviously all the flexible rubber cross walls will be easily distortable to permit the twisting distortion of plate I6 by hand lever I8 as above described and as illustrated in Fig. 6. When lever I8 is swung laterally after it reaches a substantial vertical position, the lower portion of plate I6 which still lies within its groove in the ice is forced laterally against the,ice blocks on each side thereof and causes them to split of! the lower metal plate I1 and in so doing to crack in two at 4I across the interconnecting necks of ice 48 of substantial cross sectional area (see Fig. 5). Of course if desired, the metal plate I1 can extend all the way to the bottom of the ice blocks and thus provide somewhat more rapid freezing due to the better heat conduction of the greater' area of metal partitions in -the grid. However it has been found in certain cases that it is easier to crack the ice in two over a substantial area rather than to force it loose from the two opposite sides of a metal partition wall. For instance, in the above device, it is easier to crack the ice in two over the substantial areas 4| than it would be to force them free from opposite sides of a metal partition wall extending across these areas 4I. In fact the metal plate I1 may have a materially less depth than that illustrated in the rubber cross walls, which of course aids in free` ing the ice from these cross walls. .l

It will be clear to those skilled in the art that the very simple and efficient means of -this invention for moving two sections' of a main divif sion wall relative to one another is 4not limited to a gridstructure having flexible non-metallic cross walls. Various embodiments may be readily designed wherein the cross walls are of metal and loosely mounted upon the main division wall in such a way as to permit relative vertical move-Y.

ment between the upper and lower sections of said main division wall in order to force a pros assassin gressive loosening of the ice from .the division walls. While the embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood thatother forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow. What is claimed is as follows: l

1. In a freezing tray, a container pan, a grid 'for dividing the pan into a plurality of ice block compartments, said grid comprising: a longitudinal wall having substantially aligned relatively Amovable upper and lower sections, a plu-` rality of transverse walls mounted upon said longitudinal wall so as to permit substantial relative lateral motion and relative vertical motion between said upper and lower. sections, and forcemultiplying means for lmoving said upper section substantially in a vertical plane and thereby loosening it from the ice and for thereafter moving said upper section laterally to force the ice upon opposite sides thereof loose from said lower I -force the ice blocks laterally from Vsaid longitudinal wall.

,-3. In a freezing tray, a container pan, a gridl for dividing the pan into a plurality of ice block compartments, said grid' comprising: a longitudinal wall having substantially aligned relatively movable upper and lower sections, a plurality of transverse walls mounted upon said longitudinal wall and permitting a substantial relative lateral motion and relative vertical motion between said upper and lower sections, and forcemultiplying means arranged to first force a separating movement between said upper and lower sections and thereby loosening at least one of said sections froml the ice, and adapted to longi- -tudinally twist said upper section to force the ice blocks laterally from said longitudinal wall.

4. In a freezing tray, a container pan, a grid for dividing the pan into a plurality of ice 'block compartments, said grid comprising: a mainlongitudinal wall having relatively movable metallic upper and lower sections both normally bonded to the frozen ice contents, a plurality of resilient non-metallic transverse lwalls mounted upon said longitudinal wall and permitting relative movement between said upper and lower sections, and force-multiplying means arranged to force a relative movement betweensaid sections and thereby loosen at least one of said sections from its frozen bond to the ice, and to distort said upper section to force the ice blocks laterally from said longitudinal wall.

5. In a freezing tray, a container pan,` a grid for dividing the pan into a plurality of ice block compartments, said grid comprising: a main longitudinal wall having relatively-movable metallic upper and lower sections both normally bonded to the frozen ice contents, a pluralityl of resilient non-metallic transverse walls mounted upon said longitudinal wall and permitting relative move- Aice contents, and to then give a twisting disment between said upper and lower sections, vand force-multiplying means arranged to force a relative tilting movement between said sections and thereby loosen at least one of said sections from its ice4 bond, and to distort-said upper section to 5 force the ice blocks laterally from vsaid longitudinal wall. Y s

6. In a freezing tray, a container pan, a grid for dividing-the pan into a plurality o f ice block compartments, said grid comprising: a main lon, 1"

gitudinal wall having relatively movable metallic] upper and lower sections both normally bonded to the frozen ice contents. a plurality of resilient` non-metallic transverse walls mounted upon said longitudinal'wall and permitting yrelative movel5 f ment between said upper and lower sections, and force-multiplying means arranged to force-a relative movement between sections and thereby loosen at least-one of saidsections from its frozen bond to the ice, and to nove said upper section 20 in such manner as to force the ice blocks laterally from said longitudinal wall. l 1. In a freezing tray,- a container pan, a grid for dividing the pan into a plurality of ice block compartments, said grid comprising: a main di-- 25 vision wall having relatively movable metallic` sections both normally bonded `to the frozen ice contents, a plurality of resilient non-metallic cross walls permitting relative movement between said metallic sections, and force-multiply- 30 ing means arranged to force a relative movement between said metallic sections and thereby loosen, at least one of said sections from its frozen bond to the ice, and to move one of said sections in auch manner as to force the ice blocks laterally 35 from said main division wall.

8. A unitary dividing grid for afreezing tray, comprising: a main division wall having at least partially relatively separatable upper and lower sections both normally bonded to the frozen contents, and a force-multiplying hand lever pivotally mounted upon said upper section and arranged to force a partial relative separating movement between said sections and thereby at least partially loosen one of said sections from its frozen bond to the icecontents, and to then move one of said sections laterallyto engage and force the ice contents laterally from said main division wall. 5

9. A unitary dividing grid for a freezing tray,

comprising: a main'division wall having at least partially relatively separatable upper-'and lowersections both normally bonded to the frozen contents, and a force-multiplying hand lever pivoted uponsaid upper section' and arranged to force a relative separating movement betweenv saidsections and therebyat least partially loosen one of said sections from its frozen bond to the tortion to one of said sections to force the ice contents laterally from said main division wall.

.10. A unitary dividing grid for a freezing tray, comprising: a main division'wall having at least partially relatively separatable upper and lower sections both normally bondedV to the frozen con- 65 tents, and a force-multiplyinghand lever pivoted upon said upper section and arranged to tilt :one end of said upper section upwardly and thereby at least partially loosen said vupper section from its` frozen bond to the ice contents and .70

to distort said upper section to force theice contents laterally from said main division wall.

l1. A unitary dividing grid for a freezing tray,

comprising: a main division wall having relatively separatable upper and lower sections both 75 normally bonded to the. frozen contents, and an actuating lever -pivotaliy mounted upon said upper section and reacting upon said lower section and operable to force a relative separating movement between said sections whereby one of said sections is at least partially loosened from -its frozen bond to the ice contents, said lever being operable to distort said upper section laterally to force the ice contents laterally from said main division wall. l

12. A dividing gridffor aXfreezing tray, cornprising: a main division wall having relatively separatable upper and lower-,sections both normally bonded to the frozen contents, `a plurality of resilient non-metallic cross walls permitting relative movement between said upper and lower sections, and an actuating lever mounted upon said upper section and reacting upon said lower section and operable to force a relative separating movement between said sections to at least partially loosen one of said sections from its frozen bond to the ice, said lever being also operable to distort said upper section to force the ice contents laterally from said main division wall.

' 13. A dividing grid for a freezing tray, comprising: a resilient metal plate constituting at least an ice-contacting portion of a main division rubber walls permitting a twisting distortion of said resilient metal plate, and means for giving said resilient plate a progressive twisting distortion to loosen the ice blocks therefrom.

14. A dividing grid for a freezing tray, comprising a resilient metal plate constituting at least an ice-contacting portion of a main division wall of ,said grid, a plurality of resilient rubber cross walls extending laterally of said main wall to form walls of vice block compartments, said rubber walls permitting a twisting distortion of said resilient metal plate, anda hand lever mounted upon one end of said resilient metal plate and operable to progressively twist said plate to loosen the ice blocks therefrom.

15. In a, freezing tray, a container pan, a grid for dividing the pan into a. plurality of ice block compartments, said grid comprising: a resilient metal plate constituting at least a substantial portion of a main division Wall of said grid, a plurality of resilient rubber cross walls extending laterally of said main wall to form walls of ice block compartments, said rubber walls permitting a relative twisting-distortion of said resilient plate, and a h'and lever mounted upon said metal plate and operable to initially react upon said pan to loosen the frozen bond between said pan and its contents, said lever being also operable to progressively twist said plate to loosen the ice blocks therefrom.

RALPH H. CHILTON. 

